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TIL "Minotaur" means the "bull of Minos," the creature's actual name was Asterion

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v1eN7 Today I learned that Ringo Starr was the narrator for Thomas the Tank Engine from 1984-1990.
xQB1 TIL Google Maps calculates their traffic by having all iPhones that have Google Maps open and Android phones that have location services turned on send anonymous bits of data back to Google
Brpjr TIL there was a black samurai who served under the daimyō Oda Nobunaga who praised him for his strength and was given his own residence and a short, ceremonial katana by Nobunaga. When they first met, Nobunaga suspected his skin was covered in ink and had his skin scrubbed.
VB1X4 TIL every May in Hamburg tugboats perform choreographed tugboat ballet to the tunes of waltz
E1kQx TIL that Marilyn Monroe once walked around New York City in broad daylight with nobody noticing her. She asked her companions “do you want to see her?” When they said “yes”, she changed her walk, speech, and posture, and strangers who previously ignored her realized who she was.